The Indian women’s hockey team fought valiantly but poor execution proved to be its undoing on Monday, leading to a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Germany, a second consecutive setback for the side at the Tokyo Olympics.
After the 1-5 drubbing at the hands of world No 1 Netherlands, the Indians lifted their game but it was not enough to get past world No 3 and Rio Games Bronze-medallists Germany in their second Pool A match at the Oi Hockey Stadium.
The team was guilty of wasting a lot of opportunities, including a penalty stroke by Gurjit Kaur in the third quarter while luck also didn’t favour the Rani Rampal-led side.
Skipper Nike Lorenz (12th minute) and Anna Schroder (35th) were the goal scorers for Germany, who registered their second win on the trot having beaten Great Britain 2-1 in their first match.
Indian will play Great Britain in their next pool match on Wednesday.
India vs Spain
On Tuesday, the men’s hockey team would be desperate to rebuild a shattered morale when it takes on a lower-ranked Spain in its third Pool A match.
After a fighting 3-2 win over New Zealand in their campaign opener, the Indians were completely steam-rolled 1-7 by world No 1 Australia in their second game and now the team would like to get back into winning ways against world No 9 Spain.